SANTA ANA – A 28-year-old correctional officer from Santa Fe Springs is facing charges of child annoyance for alleged inappropriate contacts with a 16-year-old boy in custody at Orange County Juvenile Hall, sheriff’s officials said Friday.

Elizabeth Gomez Nieto turned herself in at the Orange County Sheriff’s Department headquarters in Santa Ana at 9:45 p.m. Thursday after she was informed that a warrant for her arrest had been issued, said department spokesman Jim Amormino. She was later released on $25,000 bail. She could receive a date for her arraignment on Monday, officials said. Nieto faces four misdemeanor counts of child annoyance, Amormino said, adding that the acts attributed to her include inappropriate touching, hugging, kissing and sending him some letters.

“The alleged crimes occurred while the male juvenile was in custody at Orange County Juvenile Hall,” Amormino said.

The 16-year-old inmate was under her supervision at the time of the contact, Orange County sheriff’s officials said.

Investigation into her alleged behavior began when probation officers reported Nieto spending many hours near the boy’s cell and turned off the lights in the unit, according to a search warrant affidavit filed in Orange County Superior Court.

The document further detailed that the inmate told investigators that he had sexual contact with Nieto.

In a Sept. 23 conversation with sheriff’s investigators, Nieto denied having sex with the boy, but did concede to kissing and hugging him, according to the affidavit.

He also turned over letters to investigators.

The affidavit quoted the letters with Nieto allegedly telling the young man that her feelings were genuine and warning that the pair needed to “act as if nothing is going on.”

The arrest is the second one in a month involving the accusation of a female juvenile correctional officer with the Orange County Probation Department abusing an underage inmate.

Beccy Haselbarth, 34, of Murietta is accused of having sex with a 16-year-old inmate at the Orange County Los Pinos Conservation Camp and trying to help him escape. She has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial, sheriff’s officials said.

Calls to the Orange County Probation Department were not returned Friday.

Sandra Molina is a native Southern Californian, the oldest of three children raised by a single mom who named her after Dodgers great Sandy Koufax. She grew up in Monterey Park, but was schooled in Tarzana, through busing, and East Los Angeles. She is a proud alumna of Garfield High School in East Los Angeles; Rio Hondo College in Whittier; and Cal State University at Long Beach, where she earned a BA degree in English Literature. She began a career as a freelance writer and photographer in the San Gabriel Valley in 1997, in addition to being a writer/photographer for GoGirlsMusic.com as its Los Angeles correspondent. She has been a reporter with the San Gabriel Valley News Group since 2007 writing features, breaking news, entertainment, sports and crime. Outside of the newsroom, she enjoys music, reading, going to the beach and spending time with family and friends.